The Jewel May 8 to 15, 2013

[Serendipity333]

We sailed home on the Jewel from Long Beach into Vancouver.

 

What a GREAT cruise and crew. This being our fourth to date (twice on NCL Star and once on Holland America) we had to vote it our best yet.

 

Majority of the crew were great. Our cabin steward, Richard, kept our mini-suite immaculate and was always cheerful, happy to see us and professional. We had originally thought to book a balcony cabin but there was an automatic upgrade to mini-suite at the time. Really glad we took it as it was a bit larger than a regular balcony and had a deep bath tub with shower and a larger closet and drawer space. Also the couch and balcony was a bit larger. We had a flat screen TV but found the controls "sticky" at times. (Yes, we would still book a regular balcony.)

 

We took our own favourite ground coffee with coffee filters as we are a bit fussy about our coffee. We tried an Americano in the coffee bar but did not like it so chose to just drink our own. Am very thankful NCL has coffee machines in cabins as Holland America didn't!

 

We both prefer to eat Vegan and Edgardo, who works with special diets in the Tsar main dining room made sure we had meals that worked for us. He was very professional, happy and had a great sense of humour, as well as understanding (and respecting) our needs and being a very kind gentleman. You just need to let NCL know in advance if you have special dietary requirements and they truly do their best to accommodate you. We enjoy the main dining room at the back of the ship and like the fact that they don't rush you and are friendly and willing to chat if you engage them. Not a place to eat in a hurry but that is what the buffet is for. We had lunch and dinner in Tsar's and enjoyed every meal. Chef even made us vegan chocolate cake and apple crisp, which was much appreciated. Also love the fact that there are lots of tables for two (we like to be romantic when on vacation) and don't push you to share a table. We enjoy all-inclusive beach resorts but find the dining room staff are not encouraged to chat.

 

The entertainment throughout the ship was very good. The production company dancers/singers contracts were up so they would have been replaced on the next cruise after us. They were the best production cast we have seen so far too. There was a group called Next Stage who could sure belt out Rock in a grand, lively way with great vocals and guitar playing. Wasn't so keen on their Beatles show but we're prejudiced as we grew up in Britain with the Beatles :) and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Duo Luna were fantastic. We tended to follow them around the ship as their act was different each time and we really enjoyed their style of music, singing, sense of humour and professionalism. There was so much entertainment we simply did not get to it all!!!!

 

Did not participate in the games, casino, spa, pool area so can only comment that the pools and decks looked clean, spa staff friendly, casino very smoky. There were about 80 kids on board but you'd never know. The few we saw were well behaved and cute!

 

The Cruise Director (Matt) did not make a lot of PA announcements, which was very nice. He was a friendly fellow and good at his job.

 

We met Captain Lars a couple of times and he shook hands with us (which surprised us because of viruses). A lovely man who said he is retiring in a couple of years. The Senior Officer's would always say hello if passing you someplace. I think quite a few of the crew may have been on the Star before as there were a few faces that seemed familiar.

 

There was a bridge-viewing room on our deck and we enjoyed going there a few times. Lots of information on where the ship has been, etc.

 

Could have happily stayed on her for another week or two but alas, our 4-legged babies were in the kennels and in need of home.

 

Only negatives I can think of was we did not find the gift shop staff friendly so did not spend much time there and as we are not smokers we found the smoke that came from the casino overpowering at times when listening to entertainment in Magnum's. Wish NCL would enclose it with some really good ventilation.

 

All-in-all top marks to the crew of the Jewel. It all comes from the top down! If the Captain treats his Manager's good they treat the crew good and the crew treat their customers good and so on......

 

Sue

[NayRN]

Glad you had a great cruise! I did the opposite cruise in September - Vancouver to LA...and loved it! The Jewel is now my favorite ship.....until I board the Gem in August!!:rolleyes: